McAfee Corp. (MCFE) 2021 Q2 法說會逐字稿

Thank you for standing by, and welcome to McAfee's Q2 2021 Earnings Conference Call. (Operator Instructions) Please be advised that today's conference is being recorded. (Operator Instructions)

感謝您的支持，歡迎參加 McAfee 2021 年第二季財報電話會議。 （操作員指示）請注意，今天的會議正在錄音。 （操作員指令）

I would now like to hand the conference over to your host, Vice President, Investor Relations, Eduardo Fleites.

現在，我想將會議交給主持人、投資者關係副總裁 Eduardo Fleites。

Good afternoon, and thank you for joining us today to discuss McAfee's second quarter earnings results for the period ended June 26, 2021. Participating on today's call are Peter Leav, President and CEO; and Venkat Bhamidipati, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer; and Ashish Agarwal, Senior Vice President and -- of Strategy and Corporate Development.

下午好，感謝您今天加入我們，討論 McAfee 截至 2021 年 6 月 26 日的第二季度收益結果。以及執行副總裁兼財務長 Venkat Bhamidipati；以及策略和企業發展資深副總裁 Ashish Agarwal。

Earlier this afternoon, McAfee issued a press release announcing its financial results. While this call will reflect items discussed within that document, for a complete information about our financial performance, we encourage you to read our 2020 annual report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 26, 2020, and our quarterly report on Form 10-Q for the fiscal quarter ended June 26, 2021, which we filed today with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

今天下午早些時候，麥克菲發布了一份新聞稿，公佈了其財務表現。雖然本次電話會議將反映該文件中討論的內容，但為了獲得有關我們財務業績的完整信息，我們建議您閱讀我們今天向美國證券交易委員會提交的截至 2020 年 12 月 26 日財政年度的 10-K 表 2020 年度報告和截至 2021 年 6 月 26 日財政季度的 10-Q 季度報告。

Before we begin, I want to remind you that matters discussed on today's call may include forward-looking statements related to our operating performance, financial goals and business outlook, which are based on management's current beliefs and assumptions. These forward-looking statements reflect our opinions as of the date of this call, and we undertake no obligation to revise this information as a result of new developments that may occur. Forward-looking statements are subject to various risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause our actual results to differ materially from those expected and described today.

在我們開始之前，我想提醒您，今天電話會議上討論的問題可能包括與我們的經營業績、財務目標和業務前景相關的前瞻性陳述，這些陳述基於管理層當前的信念和假設。這些前瞻性陳述反映了我們在本次電話會議召開之日的觀點，我們不承擔根據可能發生的新情況修改該資訊的義務。前瞻性陳述受各種風險、不確定性和其他因素的影響，這些因素可能導致我們的實際結果與今天預期和描述的結果有重大差異。

For a more detailed description of our risk factors, please review our most recent annual report on Form 10-K and our quarterly report on Form 10-Q filed today with the Securities and Exchange Commission, where you will see a discussion of factors that could cause the company's actual results to differ materially from these statements.

有關我們風險因素的更詳細描述，請查看我們今天向美國證券交易委員會提交的最新 10-K 表年度報告和 10-Q 表季度報告，您將在其中看到可能導致公司實際結果與這些聲明存在重大差異的因素的討論。

A replay of this conference call will be available on our website under the Investor Relations section.

本次電話會議的重播將在我們網站的「投資者關係」欄位下提供。

I would also like to remind you that during the call, we will discuss some non-GAAP measures in talking about McAfee's performance. You can find a reconciliation of those measures to the nearest comparable GAAP measures in our earnings release.

我還想提醒您，在電話會議中，我們將討論一些非 GAAP 指標來談論 McAfee 的表現。您可以在我們的收益報告中找到這些指標與最接近的可比較 GAAP 指標的對帳表。

Before I pass the call over to Peter, I would like to remind everyone that due to the announcement on March 8, 2021, regarding the signing of the definitive agreement to sell the Enterprise business, the financial results of the Enterprise business were classified as discontinued operations in our condensed consolidated financial statements, and are, thus, excluded from continuing operations for all periods presented. As such, we will focus on continuing operations for our Consumer business on this and future calls.

在我將電話轉給彼得之前，我想提醒大家，由於 2021 年 3 月 8 日宣布簽署出售企業業務的最終協議，企業業務的財務結果在我們的合併財務報表中被歸類為已終止經營，因此，在所有報告期間均不包含在持續經營中。因此，在本次電話會議以及未來的電話會議上，我們將專注於持續經營我們的消費者業務。

I will now turn the call over to Peter Leav, McAfee's President and CEO.

現在我將把電話轉給 McAfee 總裁兼執行長 Peter Leav。

Thank you, Eduardo, and good afternoon.

謝謝你，愛德華多，下午好。

Before we move to our quarterly results, we are very pleased to highlight that on July 27, we completed the sale of our Enterprise business for $4 billion in cash. This was a major accomplishment, and I want to take a moment to thank the team for working diligently over the past several months to make this happen. As we look forward, we are excited about our journey as a pure-play consumer cybersecurity company.

在我們公佈季度業績之前，我們非常高興地強調，7 月 27 日，我們以 40 億美元現金完成了企業業務的出售。這是一個重大成就，我想藉此機會感謝團隊在過去幾個月為實現這一目標而付出的辛勤工作。展望未來，我們對於身為純粹的消費者網路安全公司的未來充滿期待。

Now to our quarterly results. Q2 was another strong quarter for McAfee as we significantly increased revenue, profitability and free cash flow. We drove very strong performance during the first half of the year, with double-digit year-over-year growth for both revenue and adjusted EBITDA. As a result, we are increasing our FY '21 guidance.

現在來看看我們的季度業績。第二季度對 McAfee 來說又是一個強勁的季度，因為我們的營收、獲利能力和自由現金流都大幅增加。我們上半年的業績非常強勁，營收和調整後 EBITDA 均實現了兩位數的年增長。因此，我們提高了 21 財年的預期。

In Q2, we delivered revenue of $467 million, an increase of 22% year-over-year as compared to the same period last year. Adjusted EBITDA for the quarter was $218 million, up 38% versus the same period last year, representing a margin of 47%. The adjusted EBITDA for the period included stranded costs of $21 million.

第二季度，我們實現營收4.67億美元，比去年同期成長22%。本季調整後 EBITDA 為 2.18 億美元，較去年同期成長 38%，利潤率為 47%。該期間調整後的 EBITDA 包含 2,100 萬美元的擱淺成本。

We continue to drive double-digit growth, along with improved profitability, through our differentiated product and omnichannel go-to-market strategy. Consumers are increasingly adopting our powerful online protection services.

透過差異化產品和全通路行銷策略，我們持續推動兩位數的成長並提高獲利能力。越來越多的消費者採用我們強大的線上保護服務。

In Q2, we added organically another industry-leading 556,000 net new core direct-to-consumer subscribers, or DTC, to our platform, closing the quarter at a cumulative 19.4 million versus 16.6 million core DTC subscribers in the same period last year. This marks our 15th consecutive quarter of sequential and year-over-year core direct-to-consumer subscriber adds.

在第二季度，我們平台又新增了 556,000 名業界領先的淨核心直接面向消費者用戶（DTC），本季累計用戶數量達 1,940 萬，而去年同期的核心 DTC 用戶數量為 1,660 萬。這是我們連續第 15 個季度實現核心直接面向消費者用戶數量的環比和同比增長。

In addition to these strong operating results, Q2 highlights included signing a multiyear extended agreement to McAfee's long-standing partnership with Samsung to protect Samsung PC users' personal data against online threats worldwide via our McAfee LiveSafe product. Our unique omnichannel go-to-market strategy continues to allow McAfee to outpace the competition, attracting subscribers at the emanation point and throughout their digital journey.

除了這些強勁的營運業績之外，第二季的亮點還包括與三星簽署了多年的延長協議，以鞏固麥克菲與三星的長期合作夥伴關係，透過我們的 McAfee LiveSafe 產品保護三星 PC 用戶的個人資料免受全球線上威脅。我們獨特的全通路行銷策略使 McAfee 繼續領先競爭對手，在發源地和整個數位旅程中吸引用戶。

Furthermore, from a product perspective, on May 31, the German antimalware test lab, AV-TEST, awarded McAfee's Total Protection Top Product Certification for the sixth consecutive time. Additionally, on June '21, AV Test also awarded McAfee's mobile security for Android a perfect score for the seventh consecutive time.

此外，從產品角度來看，5月31日，德國反惡意軟體測試實驗室AV-TEST連續第六次授予McAfee Total Protection頂級產品認證。此外，21 年 6 月，AV Test 也連續第七次為 McAfee 的 Android 行動安全產品授予了滿分。

We continue to execute on our plan as we strike the right balance between investing to grow and capture the tremendous market opportunity in front of us while improving margins. We remain committed to invest in our product portfolio, go-to-market engine and subscriber acquisition and retention motions and plan to continue to drive double-digit revenue growth over the long term. We are confident in the sustainability of this trajectory driven by the positive market forces tied to the proliferation of personal devices and data, educational, social and professional use adoption, the evolving threat landscape as well as increased public awareness of the importance of privacy, identity protection and security.

我們將繼續執行我們的計劃，在投資成長和抓住面前的巨大市場機會與提高利潤率之間取得適當的平衡。我們將繼續致力於投資我們的產品組合、市場進入引擎和用戶獲取與保留計劃，並計劃在長期內繼續推動兩位數的收入成長。我們對這一軌蹟的可持續性充滿信心，這得益於與個人設備和數據的激增，教育、社交和專業用途的採用，不斷演變的威脅形勢以及公眾對隱私、身份保護和安全重要性的認識不斷提高相關的積極市場力量。

As we look out over the second half of the year, we are confident that the flywheel effect of our business will continue to benefit from a greater renewal base associated with the trailing 12-month cohort of 2.8 million net new DTC subscribers added as of the end of Q2.

展望下半年，我們相信，我們業務的飛輪效應將繼續受益於更大的續約基數，截至第二季末，過去 12 個月內 DTC 用戶淨增加 280 萬。

We understand the mission-critical role that we play in securing consumers' digital lives around the world. The acceleration in digitization that has taken place over the past year has only served to compound that urgency. McAfee's expertise in bringing differentiated security solutions to consumers has never been more timely. New convenience is in the realm of work, learn, shop, bank, exercise and stream have gone from nice-to-haves to must-haves. These digitally enabled experiences have become permanently woven into consumers' daily lives, and they expect every interaction to be secure. McAfee is there to provide that peace of mind.

我們了解我們在保護全球消費者的數位生活方面發揮的關鍵作用。過去一年數位化進程的加速進一步加劇了這種迫切性。 McAfee 在為消費者提供差異化安全解決方案方面的專業知識從未如此及時。新的便利體現在工作、學習、購物、銀行、運動和流動等領域，已從可有可無變成了必需品。這些數位化體驗已經永久融入了消費者的日常生活，他們希望每次互動都是安全的。 McAfee 可為您提供此安心。

Thank you once again to our McAfee team for your dedication and hard work, which has allowed us to focus on customer and partner success, execute on our strategy and deliver very strong Q2 results.

再次感謝我們的 McAfee 團隊的奉獻和辛勤工作，這使我們能夠專注於客戶和合作夥伴的成功，執行我們的策略並取得非常強勁的第二季業績。

I will now turn the call over to Venkat to discuss our financial results in further detail.

現在我將把電話轉給 Venkat，進一步討論我們的財務表現。

Thanks, Peter, and good afternoon, everyone.

謝謝，彼得，大家下午好。

For today's discussion, I'll be focusing on our non-GAAP continuing operations, unless specifically stated, otherwise. Also, you'll find a historical view of our continuing operations within the supplemental financials on the IR section of our website.

在今天的討論中，我將重點放在我們的非公認會計準則持續經營，除非另有特別說明。此外，您還可以在我們網站的 IR 部分的補充財務資料中找到我們持續經營的歷史視圖。

As Peter mentioned, we're pleased that we have closed the transaction to divest our Enterprise business, and moving forward, we'll be focused exclusively on our pure-play Consumer security business. I'll later explain the impact of this transaction on our results.

正如彼得所提到的，我們很高興完成了剝離企業業務的交易，未來我們將專注於純粹的消費者安全業務。我稍後會解釋這筆交易對我們業績的影響。

We continued our strong momentum in Q2, with double-digit growth in revenue, profitability and cash flow year-over-year. Overall results exceeded expectations driven by strong execution and increased demand for our holistic personal security offerings. For the second quarter, revenue was $467 million, a year-over-year growth rate of 22%, driven by strong public awareness of the importance of security, identity and privacy. Direct-to-consumer revenue contributed $344 million, an increase of 17% over the same period last year, continuing a strong double-digit growth trend.

我們在第二季度持續保持強勁勢頭，營收、獲利能力和現金流較去年同期均達到兩位數成長。整體業績超乎預期，得益於強勁的執行力和對我們整體個人安全產品的需求增加。第二季營收為 4.67 億美元，年增 22%，這得益於公眾對安全、身分和隱私重要性的強烈認知。直接面向消費者的營收貢獻了3.44億美元，比去年同期成長了17%，延續了強勁的兩位數成長趨勢。

We also continued to see robust demand for indirect and partner-led business, which includes mobile providers, ISPs, search, retail and e-commerce partners. Revenue from indirect and partner-led channels, which is a mix of both subscription and nonsubscription, contributed $123 million, an increase of 38% over the same period last year. This increase was primarily driven by the overperformance of our nonsubscription business.

我們也繼續看到對間接和合作夥伴主導的業務的強勁需求，其中包括行動供應商、網路服務供應商、搜尋、零售和電子商務合作夥伴。來自間接和合作夥伴主導的管道（包括訂閱和非訂閱）的收入貢獻了 1.23 億美元，比去年同期增長了 38%。這一成長主要得益於我們的非訂閱業務的出色表現。

Adjusted EBITDA was $218 million, up 38% year-over-year, representing EBITDA margin of 47%. Excluding $21 million of stranded costs, adjusted EBITDA would be $239 million, representing a 51% EBITDA margin. Finally, adjusted EPS for second quarter was $0.28.

調整後 EBITDA 為 2.18 億美元，較去年同期成長 38%，EBITDA 利潤率為 47%。不含2,100萬美元的擱淺成本，調整後的EBITDA將為2.39億美元，EBITDA利潤率為51%。最後，第二季調整後的每股盈餘為 0.28 美元。

Moving to spending. We continue to increase operating leverage in our business model. As a percentage of revenue, adjusted gross margins for the second quarter improved by approximately 200 basis points year-over-year due to product mix and cost of sales efficiencies. Adjusted operating margins improved by approximately 600 basis points as a percentage of revenue. Even though investments increased in product and customer acquisition as compared to last year, we continue to find leverage in our model.

轉向支出。我們繼續在我們的商業模式中提高經營槓桿。作為收入的百分比，由於產品組合和銷售成本效率，第二季調整後的毛利率比去年同期提高了約 200 個基點。調整後的營業利潤率佔收入的百分比提高了約 600 個基點。儘管與去年相比，我們在產品和客戶獲取方面的投資有所增加，但我們仍在我們的模型中發現槓桿作用。

Our pure-play consumer business continues to show widespread strength as we address the increasing demand globally. We saw robust demand in subscriber growth across all geographies, with Americas region contributing $309 million and leading the group with a growth rate of 23% over the same period last year. EMEA contributed $109 million, growing year-over-year at 21%, while APJ contributed $49 million and grew 17% over the same period last year. Our team continues to execute well, focusing on customer acquisition, conversion and retention.

隨著我們滿足全球日益增長的需求，我們的純消費者業務繼續展現出廣泛的力量。我們看到所有地區的用戶成長需求強勁，其中美洲地區貢獻了 3.09 億美元，以 23% 的成長率領先去年同期。 EMEA 地區貢獻了 1.09 億美元，年增 21%；APJ 地區貢獻了 4,900 萬美元，年增 17%。我們的團隊繼續表現出色，專注於客戶獲取、轉換和保留。

In Q2, we ended with an industry-leading 19.4 million core DTC subscribers, including 556,000 net new subscribers added in the most recent quarter and 2.8 million in the last 12 months. We believe this reflects the sustainable shift towards digitization of consumers across their online activities, which reinforces the need for the type of online protection McAfee provides.

在第二季度，我們的核心 DTC 用戶數量達到 1,940 萬，居行業領先地位，其中包括最近一個季度淨增的 556,000 名新用戶和過去 12 個月淨增的 280 萬名新用戶。我們相信，這反映了消費者線上活動向數位化的可持續轉變，這加強了對 McAfee 提供的線上保護的需求。

Average revenue per customer, or ARPC, in Q2 was $5.99, up $0.04 from Q1, which reflected the growth and mix of new to renewal subscribers across all geographies. From a retention perspective, our dollar retention rate, or DRR, remained at 100%. Our team's excellent execution through a deliberate focus on user experience, value of our offerings, ease of renewal and upselling higher value-added packages continues to contribute to DRR.

第二季每位客戶平均收入 (ARPC) 為 5.99 美元，較第一季成長 0.04 美元，這反映了所有地區新訂戶和續訂戶的成長和組合。從保留角度來看，我們的美元保留率（DRR）保持在 100%。我們團隊透過刻意關注用戶體驗、產品價值、續訂的便利性和追加銷售更高附加價值的套餐，出色地執行，繼續為 DRR 做出貢獻。

Now turning to balance sheet and cash flows, which include results from continuing and discontinued operations. We ended the second quarter with $420 million in total company cash and cash equivalents. We declared a regular dividend in the amount of $0.115 per Class A common share on June 10, 2021, and paid it on July 9, 2021. From a cash flow perspective, we generated $189 million in total company cash flow from operations compared to $117 million in the prior period, an increase of 62%. The improvement is attributable to increased profitability and improvements in management of working capital.

現在轉向資產負債表和現金流量，其中包括持續經營和停止經營的成果。截至第二季度，公司現金和現金等價物總額為 4.2 億美元。我們於 2021 年 6 月 10 日宣布派發每股 A 類普通股 0.115 美元的定期股息，並於 2021 年 7 月 9 日支付。這項改善歸功於獲利能力的提高和營運資金管理的改善。

Finally, total company unlevered free cash flow was $233 million versus $180 million in the previous period, a year-over-year increase of 29%. This is inclusive of approximately $50 million in onetime costs.

最後，公司總無槓桿自由現金流為 2.33 億美元，而上期為 1.8 億美元，較去年同期成長 29%。其中包括約 5000 萬美元的一次性成本。

Before providing guidance, I wish to remind investors that a portion of our indirect and partner-led revenue is derived from our search partners and is nonsubscription in nature. While we overperformed in Q2 within this revenue source, it is normally seasonally lower in Q2 and Q3.

在提供指導之前，我想提醒投資者，我們的部分間接收入和合作夥伴主導的收入來自我們的搜尋合作夥伴，本質上是非訂閱收入。雖然我們在第二季的這個營收來源表現優異，但通常第二季和第三季的季節性收入較低。

Now turning to guidance. We are providing current quarter and annual guidance ranges for the revenue and adjusted EBITDA for our continuing operations pure-play Consumer business.

現在轉向指導。我們為持續經營的純消費者業務提供本季和年度收入及調整後 EBITDA 的指導範圍。

For the third quarter ending September 25, 2021, we expect revenue and adjusted EBITDA to be in the range of $461 million and $467 million and $169 million and $175 million, respectively. We expect our direct-to-consumer subscription revenue to increase sequentially from Q2 to Q3. We estimate stranded costs to be in the range of $35 million to $40 million. Furthermore, we anticipate cash interest expense for the third quarter to be in the range of $45 million and $50 million. And you should assume a fully diluted share count of approximately 470 million shares.

截至 2021 年 9 月 25 日的第三季度，我們預計營收和調整後的 EBITDA 分別在 4.61 億美元和 4.67 億美元以及 1.69 億美元和 1.75 億美元之間。我們預計，我們的直接面向消費者的訂閱收入將從第二季到第三季連續增加。我們估計擱淺成本在 3500 萬至 4000 萬美元之間。此外，我們預計第三季的現金利息支出將在 4,500 萬美元至 5,000 萬美元之間。而你應該假設完全稀釋的股份數量約為 4.7 億股。

For the full year ending December 25, 2021, we expect revenue and adjusted EBITDA to be in the range of $1.84 billion and $1.85 billion and $765 million and $775 million, respectively. For FY '21, we now estimate annualized stranded cost to be in the range of $120 million and $125 million. This is $25 million to $30 million lower than previous expectations as we have successfully eliminated some of the stranded cost and continue to make progress separating the businesses.

截至 2021 年 12 月 25 日的全年，我們預計營收和調整後 EBITDA 分別在 18.4 億美元和 18.5 億美元以及 7.65 億美元和 7.75 億美元之間。對於21財年，我們現在估計年化擱淺成本在1.2億美元至1.25億美元之間。這比先前的預期低 2,500 萬至 3,000 萬美元，因為我們成功消除了部分擱淺成本，並在業務分離方面繼續取得進展。

Cash net interest expense is expected to be in the range of $185 million and $195 million, which incorporates the decrease in debt attributable to the $1 billion paydown from the proceeds of the sale of the Enterprise business. For fully diluted share count, you should assume approximately 470 million shares.

現金淨利息支出預計在 1.85 億美元至 1.95 億美元之間，其中包括因出售企業業務所得 10 億美元償還債務而減少的債務。對於完全稀釋的股數，你應該假設約為 4.7 億股。

For the third quarter FY '21, the normalized non-GAAP tax rate for continuing operations is expected to be 22%.

21財年第三季度，預計持續經營的標準化非GAAP稅率為22%。

As a pure-play consumer-focused company, we have a highly attractive Consumer subscription business with industry leading scale, double-digit growth and high profitability in a growing personal security market. McAfee's sophisticated product platform and loyal long-term relationships constitute sustainable competitive advantage. We're committed to the success of our customers and positioning McAfee for long-term growth and profitability. We look forward to reporting our continued progress to you over time.

作為一家純粹的以消費者為中心的公司，我們擁有極具吸引力的消費者訂閱業務，在不斷增長的個人安全市場中具有行業領先的規模、兩位數的增長和高盈利能力。 McAfee 成熟的產品平台和長期忠誠的合作關係構成了可持續的競爭優勢。我們致力於客戶的成功，並幫助 McAfee 實現長期成長和獲利。我們期待著隨著時間的推移向您報告我們的持續進展。

Before turning it over for Q&A, as Peter mentioned, we recently closed the $4 billion sale of our Enterprise business. Our Board of Directors have declared a special dividend of $4.50 per Class A common share to be paid out to shareholders with the record date of August 13, 2021, and we're currently in the process of paying down $1 billion of debt.

在進行問答之前，正如彼得所提到的，我們最近完成了價值 40 億美元的企業業務出售。我們的董事會已宣布向記錄日期為 2021 年 8 月 13 日的股東派發每股 A 類普通股 4.50 美元的特別股息，目前我們正在償還 10 億美元的債務。

With that, I'll turn the call back to the operator to begin Q&A.

說完這些，我將把電話轉回給接線生，開始問答。

(Operator Instructions) Our first question comes from Rob Owens of Piper Sandler.

（操作員指示）我們的第一個問題來自 Piper Sandler 的 Rob Owens。

Obviously, getting a lot of investor questions relative to some consolidation in the competitive landscape. So maybe if you want to address from a broad stroke just how you think about some of the consolidation that's occurring, how you guys think about customer acquisition, especially on the international front.

顯然，許多投資人對競爭格局的整合提出了疑問。所以，如果您想從廣義上談談您如何看待正在發生的一些整合，以及您如何看待客戶獲取，特別是在國際方面。

And I guess subscription models versus premium models, and would McAfee pursue something similar? Or do you think that your customer acquisition strategy is where you're going to go, mainly through the OEM channel, some of those MSPs?

我猜是訂閱模式與付費模式，麥克菲會推行類似的模式嗎？或者您認為您的客戶獲取策略是主要透過 OEM 管道和一些 MSP？

Rob, it's Peter. Thanks for the question.

羅布，我是彼得。謝謝你的提問。

So we start where we've typically started, as we've talked to you in the past, and that is -- this is a very big, growing and important market, and it continues to be the case. So for us, it's not really zero sum. We don't look at it exclusively in that sense. And obviously, we're very, very pleased with the fact that we are continuing to do what we've outlined we would.

因此，我們從通常開始的地方開始，就像我們過去和您談到的那樣，那就是——這是一個非常龐大、不斷增長且重要的市場，而這種情況將繼續存在。所以對我們來說，這並不是真正的零和遊戲。我們並不是只從這個意義上來看這個問題。顯然，我們非常高興我們能繼續執行我們已經概述的任務。

We grew at a 20% clip last year. We grew over 20% in Q1. We grew over 20% in Q2. And by the way, EBITDA has grown commensurate or better with that. All of our geos are growing at a very, very healthy rate, and all of our channels are growing. And that's a real statement about the team, not only operationally, but also strategically, how we've thought about it and how we think about the consumer and what consumer needs are.

去年我們的成長率為20%。我們第一季的成長超過20%。我們第二季的成長超過20%。順便說一句，EBITDA 的成長與此相稱，甚至更好。我們所有的地理位置都在以非常健康的速度成長，我們所有的管道都在成長。這不僅從營運角度，而且從策略角度，對團隊而言都是一個真實的聲明，表明我們如何思考這個問題，如何看待消費者以及消費者的需求是什麼。

So as it relates to consolidation, that's fine for us. Again, we feel very good about our strategy, our ability to execute. And we see a massive TAM in front of us that is going to continue to need what we do.

因此，就合併而言，這對我們來說很好。再次，我們對我們的策略和執行能力感到非常滿意。我們看到，我們面前有一個巨大的潛在市場，它將繼續需要我們去做事。

Related to the global component, yes, all of the geographies, as we outlined in Venkat's prepared remarks, grew nicely. And that's great to see as well with Americas above 20% and EMEA above 20% and APJ in the teens. So very, very solid performance. We see opportunities to continue to drive growth and drive profit and, importantly, be there for consumers.

與全球部分相關，是的，正如我們在 Venkat 的準備好的演講中所概述的那樣，所有地區都實現了良好的成長。很高興看到，美洲地區的成長率超過 20%，歐洲、中東和非洲地區的成長率超過 20%，而亞太地區及日本地區的成長率則達到十幾歲。表現非常非常出色。我們看到了繼續推動成長、提高利潤的機會，更重要的是，為消費者提供服務。

And as you asked about channels, by all means, our OEM channel is terrific. We, as you know, are representing 85% of the brand-name PCs and represent the vast majority of the volume, but the other channels have also been terrific growth engines for us, inclusive of our direct channel, which is really a nascent piece for us because so much of our website was dedicated to Enterprise until fairly recently, and that's been a great growth engine, in addition to the long-term retail relationships, which are a great feeder.

正如您所問到的頻道，無論如何，我們的 OEM 頻道非常棒。如你所知，我們佔據了 85% 的品牌 PC 銷量，佔據了絕大多數的銷量，但其他渠道也是我們極好的增長引擎，包括直接渠道。 這對我們來說確實是一個新興領域，因為直到最近我們的網站很大一部分內容都是針對企業的，這一直是我們極好的增長引擎，此外，長期的零售關係也是一個很好的增長來源。

Venkat mentioned this nonrecurring business in search, which has grown incredibly well, and MISP is a growth story for us, too. So again, we feel very good about the routes we're going and what we're doing across the globe.

Venkat 提到了搜尋領域的這項非經常性業務，該業務發展得非常好，MISP 對我們來說也是一個成長故事。因此，我們對我們在全球範圍內所走的路線和所做的事情感到非常滿意。

Great. And then as a follow-up, how should we think about ARPC expansion as DTC adds slow? And more specifically, I guess, the pace of that expansion.

偉大的。然後作為後續問題，隨著 DTC 增長緩慢，我們應該如何看待 ARPC 擴展？更具體地說，我想，就是這種擴張的速度。

Rob, this is Venkat. With respect to ARPC, as you know, ARPC is up $0.04 quarter-on-quarter. We're very pleased with the sequential increase in ARPC. Certainly, as you alluded, the higher mix of renew helps ARPC. And our team is incredibly focused on driving long-term value to customers, both through upsell and ability to continue to sell value to our customers through holistic packages.

羅布，這是文卡特。就 ARPC 而言，如您所知，ARPC 環比上漲 0.04 美元。我們對 ARPC 的連續成長感到非常高興。當然，正如您所暗示的，更高比例的更新有助於 ARPC。我們的團隊非常注重為客戶創造長期價值，既透過追加銷售，也透過整體套餐繼續向客戶銷售價值。

So over time, we expect all cohorts to increase ARPC in the long term. And certainly, with a large install base, we think of that as a large opportunity in front of us.

因此，隨著時間的推移，我們預計所有群體的 ARPC 都會長期增加。當然，擁有龐大的安裝基礎，我們認為這對我們來說是一個巨大的機會。

(Operator Instructions) Our next question comes from Brian Essex of Goldman Sachs.

（操作員指示）我們的下一個問題來自高盛的布萊恩·埃塞克斯。

I was -- maybe if you could perhaps give us a little bit of color into net DTC adds. It looks like it kind of decelerated quarterly, more in line with maybe what you've seen historically. Could you maybe talk a little bit about demand and retention rates and how we should think about net adds going forward?

也許您可以向我們介紹淨 DTC 添加量。它看起來好像每季都有所減速，可能與歷史上看到的情況更加一致。您能否談談需求和保留率，以及我們應該如何看待未來的淨增量？

Brian, it's Peter. So why don't I start with retention, and then we'll talk about DTC and the 556,000 that were added, which clearly was industry-leading. From a retention standpoint, the DRR is very healthy. So DRR was up 200 bps year-over-year, but call it, 100%. With the amount of new subscribers that we bring in, in the mix of first year, it's just continued strong performance on that front. So the retention rate remains solid, and we feel very good.

布萊恩，我是彼得。那我為什麼不先討論留存率，然後再討論 DTC 和新增的 556,000 個用戶，這顯然是業界領先的。從保留的角度來看，DRR 非常健康。因此，DRR 較上年同期上漲了 200 個基點，但也可以說是 100%。由於我們在第一年引入了大量的新用戶，因此我們在這方面的表現一直很強勁。因此保留率仍然穩定，我們感覺非常好。

As far as the addition of new subscribers, 15 consecutive quarters year-over-year and sequential is a very positive sign of the future, really, because with the flywheel of this business and what happens in year 2 and beyond, it's just very, very strong for us.

就新用戶的增加而言，連續 15 個季度同比增長確實預示著未來的一個非常積極的信號，因為隨著這項業務的飛輪和第二年及以後的發展，這對我們來說非常非常強勁。

Now related to things like ARPC, we don't want to rush and improve ARPC at such a fast clip that we cause a cessation of growth of new. So 17% in what we would call a seasonally softer quarter, which Q2 and Q3 are. I know you recall, Q4 and Q1 are more robust, that's a solid performance from this team. And the good news as well is it's coming from a variety of mechanisms. The direct channel is growing nicely. The OEM feed into it is growing nicely. And the indirect side of the business is also doing really well.

現在與 ARPC 之類的事情有關，我們不想倉促地以過快的速度改進 ARPC，以免導致新產品的成長停止。因此，我們稱第二季和第三季為季節性疲軟季度，年減 17%。我知道你還記得，Q4 和 Q1 更加強勁，這是這支球隊的穩健表現。好消息是它來自多種機制。直接通路發展良好。其中 OEM 供給成長良好。間接業務也表現良好。

So it's a very balanced business today, and we're going to continue to drive more and more of that. But no, I think it was a solid performance for the quarter.

所以今天我們的業務非常平衡，而且我們將繼續推動這種平衡。但我認為，本季的表現還是不錯的。

Okay. Appreciate that. And maybe just a follow-up on that point, one level deeper. I mean are there any kind of like macro trends that you're attributing that to? Is it more efficient DTC spend? Are there things from the consumer standpoint that are driving more consumer adoption of the platform? How should we think about that just as we eye growth going forward?

好的。非常感謝。或許只是對這一點的進一步探討，更深入一個層次。我的意思是，您是否認為這可以歸因於某種宏觀趨勢？ DTC 支出是否更有效率？從消費者的角度來看，有哪些因素可以推動更多消費者採用該平台？當我們著眼於未來成長時，我們該如何思考這個問題？

Well, at a macro level, it's very clear that the behavior for consumers is forever changing, and we've seen that again and again in the digitization of all of our lives. And that's not a one-off or that didn't happen by chance as a sugar high. It's just the way people are going to start continuing to behave and have been behaving of late, whether that's interaction with your health care provider or ordering food online or how folks opt to bank, whereas that wasn't as pervasive a few years ago, and there's been a hastening of that for reasons that I think are obvious.

從宏觀層面來看，很明顯消費者的行為在永遠發生變化，我們在生活的數位化過程中一次又一次地看到了這一點。這並不是孤例，也不是因為糖分高而偶然發生的。這只是人們將要開始延續的行為方式，以及最近人們的行為方式，無論是與醫療保健提供者的互動，還是在線訂購食物或人們如何選擇銀行業務，而幾年前這些行為方式並不那麼普遍，而且由於我認為顯而易見的原因，這種行為方式正在加速發展。

And we see, by the way, a greater degree of focus from those who are trying to exploit that, and that's going to continue. And it's unfortunate, but the world of cyber criminal behavior continues to expand as well.

順便說一句，我們看到那些試圖利用這一點的人更加關注這一點，而且這種情況還會繼續下去。不幸的是，網路犯罪行為的範圍也不斷擴大。

Now for us, one of the things that's important in a differentiated fashion is a group that probably doesn't get enough accolades at McAfee, and that's our McAfee Threat Labs team. I mean we have telemetry around hundreds of millions of endpoints, and we have a gauge on not only consumer behavior, but importantly, cyber criminal behavior, and it's only getting bigger. And that's going to continue. And I think around the world, folks understand that, and consumers and their families understand it. So at a macro level, that's a phenomenon that we expect to continue.

現在對我們來說，以差異化的方式重要的一件事是在 McAfee 可能沒有獲得足夠讚譽的團隊，那就是我們的 McAfee 威脅實驗室團隊。我的意思是，我們擁有數億個端點的遙測數據，我們不僅可以衡量消費者行為，而且還可以衡量網路犯罪行為，而且這個數字還在不斷增長。這種情況將會持續下去。我認為世界各地的人們都了解這一點，消費者和他們的家人也了解這一點。因此從宏觀層面來看，我們預期這種現象將會持續下去。

Our next question comes from Hamza Fodderwala of Morgan Stanley.

我們的下一個問題來自摩根士丹利的 Hamza Fodderwala。

I guess your, Peter, first question for you. I guess in light of the recent announcements, let's say, I'm wondering from a capital allocation standpoint and sort of a longer-term growth standpoint, like to what degree does M&A kind of fit into McAfee's growth strategy now that you're obviously a pure-play consumer security company?

彼得，我想這是你第一個要問的問題。我想，鑑於最近的公告，我想從資本配置的角度和長期成長的角度考慮，既然 McAfee 現在顯然是一家純粹的消費者安全公司，那麼併購在多大程度上符合 McAfee 的成長策略？

You bet. And Hamza, you know this is a very, very strong cash-producing business, and Venkat's outlined that. And Ashish has outlined that in the past, and that continues to be the case. We're going to be very responsible. We've obviously, I think, done a reasonably good job of giving some of that continuation, inclusive of the $4 billion that we just solidified on the 27th of July back to shareholders, both as dividend and, obviously, debt paydown. So we're going to be balanced and responsible.

當然。而且 Hamza，您知道這是一項非常非常強大的現金流業務，Venkat 也概述了這一點。 Ashish 過去曾概述過這一點，而且情況仍然如此。我們將非常負責任。我認為，我們顯然已經做得相當不錯了，將部分延續性收益，包括我們在 7 月 27 日剛剛兌現的 40 億美元，以股息和債務償還的形式返還給股東。因此，我們會保持平衡和負責任的態度。

Now related to the M&A component, I think broadly speaking, what we'll continue to assess, while we feel very good about our organic play, which obviously we're going to continue to be very focused on, and we like what the team is doing and the size of the TAM, but we're going to look at what we call accretive growth areas. Those would be the types of things we would look at, both from a technology and market potential standpoint, and look at that with the lens of what enables us to continue to grow. We're very growth-oriented while driving profitability. And clearly, that's been the case, and that's the type of results-driven mindset we have.

現在談到併購部分，我認為從廣義上講，我們將繼續評估，同時我們對我們的有機表現感到非常滿意，顯然我們將繼續高度關注這一點，我們喜歡團隊正在做的事情和 TAM 的規模，但我們將關注所謂的增值增長領域。這些都是我們會考慮的事情，既要從技術角度，又要從市場潛力的角度來考慮，什麼能讓我們繼續成長。我們在提高獲利能力的同時，也非常注重成長。顯然，事實就是如此，這就是我們以結果為導向的思維。

Got it. And just maybe a quick follow-up. Just some of these extension agreement that you signed with the likes of Samsung and others. To what degree are there additional growth opportunities there in that -- was it that previously you were just protecting sort of traditional PC devices, and now, you're getting more into smart home device? Like anything around that in some of these renewal agreements that you have with the OEMs.

知道了。也許只是一個快速的後續行動。這只是您與三星等公司簽署的一些延期協議。其中存在多大程度的額外成長機會——以前你們只是保護傳統的個人電腦設備，而現在你們更多地涉足智慧家居設備？就像您與 OEM 達成的一些續約協議中涉及的內容一樣。

Sure. And these are long-term agreements, and I appreciate your asking. So part of it is the market itself continues to expand beyond PCs as well, which obviously impacts the mobile channel, et cetera. But we're seeing with renewals, and the Samsung example is an important one, it's really a LiveSafe renewal. So it's not just one product component. And as you look at what we've been doing -- and I would say we probably haven't marketed this to the extent that maybe we could or should. But between McAfee LiveSafe and Total Protection, it's really less about features and functionalities, and it's more about an amalgam of offer that consumers are looking for.

當然。這些都是長期協議，我很感謝您的詢問。因此，部分原因是市場本身也不斷超越個人電腦，這顯然會影響行動通路等。但我們看到了續約，三星的例子很重要，它實際上是 LiveSafe 的續約。所以它不僅僅是一個產品組件。當你回顧我們所做的事情時 — — 我想說，我們可能還沒有將其行銷到我們可以或應該達到的程度。但在 McAfee LiveSafe 和 Total Protection 之間，其真正差異不在於特性和功能，而在於消費者所尋求的綜合服務。

We've enhanced our McAfee security app with the package with secure VPN, with identity protection, with safe browsing, with WiFi scan. We've enhanced our story related to the proportion of our business that is now being sold as LiveSafe and Total Protection. It's a broader range.

我們透過具有安全 VPN、身分保護、安全瀏覽和 WiFi 掃描功能的軟體包增強了我們的 McAfee 安全應用程式。我們增強了與現在以 LiveSafe 和 Total Protection 名義出售的業務比例相關的故事。其範圍更為廣泛。

The other thing that's really interesting for consumers, and this is across channels, including direct, is we came out with -- and this is just this past quarter, our McAfee protection score. And that enables consumers -- as we've queried consumers and studied consumers, most consumers do not know how safe they are. They know whether or not they have McAfee, and there's a degree of assurance and insurance that they have, but how do they know whether or not they're safe online?

另一件對消費者來說真正有趣的事情是，這是透過各種管道（包括直接管道）進行的，就在上個季度，我們發布了 McAfee 保護評分。這使得消費者能夠——正如我們對消費者進行詢問和研究時發現的，大多數消費者並不知道它們有多安全。他們知道自己是否擁有 McAfee，並且擁有一定程度的保證和保險，但他們如何知道自己在網路上是否安全？

And so what we've done is we've produced a protection score, think of it somewhat akin to like a Z estimate, to provide personalized feedback and help you and your family know whether you're in a safe situation. And it's really, we think, going to help us with even greater engagement in a nonintrusive way.

因此，我們所做的是製作一個保護分數，可以將其視為有點類似於 Z 估計值，以提供個人化回饋並幫助您和您的家人了解您是否處於安全的環境中。我們認為，它確實能以一種非侵入性的方式幫助我們實現更大的參與。

So yes, VPN expansion, all of those are on the docket, but we look at it with a solution mindset rather than kind of throwing features at the market. And we think there's going to be an opportunity to not only broaden the aperture and the number of DTC subs but also back to the question about ultimately ARPU and ARPC improving over time. That'll come from a broader solution set as well. So probably more of an answer than you wanted, but that's what we're focused on.

是的，VPN 擴展，所有這些都在議程上，但我們以解決方案的心態看待它，而不是向市場推出功能。我們認為，這不僅有機會擴大 DTC 用戶的範圍和數量，也讓我們回到最終 ARPU 和 ARPC 會隨著時間的推移而提高的問題。這也將來自更廣泛的解決方案。因此，這個答案可能比您想要的還要多，但這正是我們關注的重點。

At this time, I'd like to turn the call back over to CEO, Peter Leav, for closing remarks. Sir?

現在，我想將電話轉回給執行長 Peter Leav，請他作最後發言。先生？

Great. Well, thank you all for joining our call today. We look forward to updating you on our next call. Thank you.

偉大的。好吧，感謝大家今天參加我們的電話會議。我們期待在下次通話中向您通報最新情況。謝謝。

And this concludes today's conference call. Thank you for participating. You may now disconnect.

今天的電話會議到此結束。感謝您的參與。您現在可以斷開連線。